Washington Mutual Cd Rates

Best Annuities

Shortly after George Altmeyer of Bucks County, Pa., retired from his senior-management job at a large industrial company, half his stock portfolio vanished. It was wiped out by the stock-market crash of 2008. But Altmeyer, 67, never lost a night's sleep, and he doesn't worry about whether he will run out of retirement income. His secret? He bought two kinds of annuities in 2007. "They give this blanket of security—it doesn't matter what the stock market does, really," he says.

Annuities, maligned for years as expensive gimmicks, are now shining in a big way. The basic features that critics used to blast as too costly—downside protection and guaranteed payouts—have paid off spectacularly for folks like Altmeyer through the stock-market collapse and the subsequent volatility.

Now, as baby boomers approach retirement with fresh memories of big market losses, many sharp financial advisors are recommending an annuity as an important part of an income plan. "We've come from thinking that stocks and bonds were the answer to everything, to worrying about how to arrange for monthly income to age 80 and beyond," says Fred Reish, a lawyer who specializes in retirement issues at Drinker Biddle & Reath in Los Angeles. "Annuities can take away that worry."

IN ITS MOST basic form, an annuity is a contract with an insurance company that converts your lump sum into a stream of guaranteed income, for either a set period or for your lifetime. Its primary purpose is to hedge against longevity risk—the risk that you outlive your income. While annuities date back centuries, longevity risk is a growing modern concern. Consider: In 1930, retirement lasted three to seven years, with people dying at an average age of 60. As life expectancies grew longer over subsequent years, most workers could depend on a company pension to carry them through retirement.

Now, retirements last a quarter century or more, and pensions are a dying breed, so investors are left to their own devices to arrange for income to supplement Social Security payments. At age 65, the average life expectancy is 85 for a man and 88 for a woman. But what haunts folks planning for retirement are the odds of living much longer. There's a 25% chance of living past 90, and for a couple, there's a 25% chance that one spouse will live to age 95.

Washington Mutual CD Rates | Highest CD Rates Info

Washington Mutual offers many types of certificates of deposit to choose from. Since many of our articles have highlighted CDs with high CD interest rates, but which require higher minimum deposits, we thought that in this article we would review a CD with one of the best CD rates that we’ve seen for a low deposit CD.

Yes, the Washington Mutual Traditional CD only requires a $1,000 minimum deposit, so it should be in reach for most investors. You can also chose from many different terms for the WaMu Traditional CD — terms from a 1 month CD to a 10 year CD.

For this article, we’ve chosen to focus on the long term CDs with terms of 48 months to 120 months. In that range, the WaMu Traditional CD offers an interest rate of 4.17 percent and an Annual Percentage Yield of 4.25 percent. In our opinion, that is an impressive CD rate for a CD with such a low minimum deposit.

If the combination of a low minimum investment and a nice interest rate appeal to you, you may want to check out the Washington Mutual Traditional CD. Because CD rates and other terms can change rapidly with time and can differ by location, please check the WaMu web site to verify the current offers available in your area.

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Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Kiplinger's Personal Finance

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Kiplinger's Personal Finance